WWII Spitfire Makes Emergency Landing in Kent Field

All Is Well!

A historic World War II Spitfire was forced to make an emergency landing in a Kent field on Saturday evening after losing power mid-flight.

The aircraft—Spitfire MJ627, which shot down a German fighter over Arnhem in 1944—came down in West Hythe. Its owner, Fly a Spitfire, confirmed that both the pilot and passenger were unharmed.

“The pilot made a precautionary landing at a non-airfield site,” the company said. Emergency crews arrived at the scene shortly after 7:25 p.m., securing the aircraft, which suffered damage to its propeller.

The Air Accident Investigation Branch is now looking into what caused the power failure. This isn’t the first incident for MJ627: it made an emergency landing in 1998 and lost its cockpit canopy during takeoff last year.